Australian Stock Report Market Wrap Up: Local shares down on first trading day of 2016

Sydney: 4 January 2016: After a defiant start and early session gains, the Aussie market ultimately began the new trading year on a negative note.

"Early gains evaporated following the latest factory activity data from China," said Chris Conway, Head of Research at Australian Stock Report.

“We saw the local index falling for the tenth consecutive month and at a sharper pace than in November,” Conway added.

Most sectors closed in the red, with financials the biggest drag. The big four banks lost between 1.2% and 1.7% each, with Westpac (WBC) the biggest loser.

The big miners posted moderate losses, with BHP Billiton (BHP) slipping 0.3% and Rio Tinto (RIO) down 0.2%.

Consumer staples, industrials and telcos also took sizable hits, whilst energy stocks were the days' clear winners on the back of stronger oil prices. According to Conway, “The escalating geopolitical tensions in the Middle East is pushing the oil price higher

Woodside (WPL) jumped 3%, whilst Santos (STO) rallied 4.1% and Oil Search tacked on 1.2%. On the day, the ASX 200 shed 19 points (-0.4%) to settle at 5277.